Project Archive Think Write Publish Fellowships in Science and Religion

Do you have a compelling true story to write about harmonies between science and religion? Would you like to be part of a community of talented writers also motivated by this subject? Want to meet and dialogue with publishers and editors who are interested in your work?

We will award twelve $10,000 two-year Think Write Publish Science & Religion Fellowships.

Fellows will participate in three intensive workshops focusing on developing, writing, marketing, and publishing their creative nonfiction stories about harmonies between science and religion.

Fellows’ work will be mentored throughout by experienced writers, editors and teachers and will be featured in a series of regional and national events.

Why Apply to Think Write Publish?

Recipients of the Think Write Publish Fellowship will develop and write a true story or a series of true stories exploring the harmonies between science and religion. The Fellowship program will not only give Fellows the time and opportunity to craft a publishable story, but will provide them with essential professional guidance and a community of Fellow writers and influential members of the publishing world.

Eligibility Requirements

Anyone may apply to be a Fellow. Because we are searching for unfamiliar narratives and voices that can invigorate science-religion dialogue, we want to cast a wide net; we are not preferentially seeking to recruit well-established writers.

Applicants Must Submit

• A brief letter explaining their interest in using narrative nonfiction to explore harmonies between science and religion.
• A synopsis of no more than two pages describing the story they would like to develop and why they think it is an important story to write, especially for general audiences.
• A maximum one-page biographical sketch.
• Fellowship applications will be due May 15, 2016. Fellowship recipients will be notified by August 15, 2016. The Fellowship will run from September 2016 through August 2018.
• All Fellows’ domestic (U.S.) travel and accommodation expenses related to their participation will be covered by the project, plus a $10,000 honorarium.

Fellowship Requirements

The twelve selected Fellows must participate in a series of three intensive workshops devoted to the craft of writing narrative nonfiction as well as to the skills of publishing narratives in outlets that reach a broad general readership. Workshops will take place over a long weekend in October 2016, February 2017, and May 2017. To make the burden of travel more equitable for Fellows, we will hold workshops in three different locations: Washington, DC; Tempe, AZ; and Pittsburgh, PA. Each Fellow will be assigned a mentor who will work with them throughout the development of their story. Fellows will be required to attend at least one national or regional event and to participate and or contribute to an online course focusing on their work.

Guidelines for Story Proposals

Proposals for personal stories are welcome–from scientists, religious figures, or (just as importantly) everyday people seeking to explore or reconcile their own spiritual and scientific beliefs. But so are research-based narratives about historical moments in scientific and religious discovery, or contemporary scientists wrestling with the ethical quandaries their work entails, or religious, legal, humanistic, or other experts who have encountered interesting and revealing instances of science-religion dialogue and harmonies. Above all, we are looking for narratives—true stories, rich with scene, character, and detail—that provide a nuanced, thoughtful consideration of the complex interplay and unexplored interdependencies and synergies between science and religion.

Our interests are broad and inclusive, but narratives should focus strongly on science and religion; we discourage submissions that focus on secondary issues such as environmentalism, bioethics, and pseudoscience.

This Fellowship is part of the project True Stories Well Told: Using Narrative to Search for Harmonies Between Science and Religion, and is made possible through a grant from the John Templeton Foundation to Arizona State University.

Project leaders: Lee Gutkind and Daniel Sarewitz.